Parking fines

A parking ticket, or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), can be issued to a vehicle that is parked in breach of parking regulations. They can be issued on the street or in car parks.

Parking fines

A London-wide two-tier parking penalty scheme is in operation, with penalties awarded based on the seriousness of the contravention.

Higher penalty for serious parking offences

Some acts of illegal parking can cause major disruption, frustration and danger to other road users, and drivers who commit these offences are now penalised more heavily than others.

Some examples of serious contraventions include:

• parking at bus stops
• parking on pedestrian crossings
• parking in safety zones outside schools
• parking on yellow lines.

Less serious (lower level) contraventions - such as over-staying a parking meter - will result in a lower fine.

The penalties

For areas in Greenwich defined as within Band A:

• fine for serious contraventions - £130
• fine for lesser contraventions - £80.

For areas in Greenwich defined as within Band B:

• fine for serious contraventions - £110
• fine for lesser contraventions - £60.

You get a 50 per cent reduction if you pay within 14 days of the date of issue.

If you think your parking ticket has been wrongly issued, you can make an appeal.

What if I don’t pay a parking fine quickly?

If you don’t pay within 28 days of issue, a chain of events is set in motion:

1. We will send you a Notice to Owner document.
2. If the notice remains unpaid, we will then send you a Charge Certificate, which increases the charge by 50 per cent.
3. If the charge remains unpaid after these steps, we will register the debt at a County Court and this could then lead to a visit from a bailiff.
4. The bailiff is empowered to seize the vehicle and/or property to the value of the original parking ticket plus the costs of collecting it. This could amount to several times the value of the original fine.